We need a miracle

First, an Update on Rachel and Us: Sherri and I have been overwhelmed with the love and compassion that all of you have showered upon us and our daughter Rachel during the past 5 weeks. Rachel entered Jewish Hospital on October 30 for outpatient surgery to have feeding tubes inserted into her body, but many things went wrong. A few days later, we asked for prayer for Rachel and had a special request for prayers to be sent to her via email. We were flooded with prayers, and we printed them out. There were over 90 pages of prayers for Rachel, and she was encouraged by people cared for her. On November 16, I sent an update email on Rachel. At that time, Rachel seemed to have several days where she very slowly was turning the corner. She was getting a little bit of nutrition (which is an improvement from none), and her pain levels dropped from 10 to 7. Still very high but still a bit of an improvement. Shortly after sending out that update, Rachel took a downward turn. She has a systemic Staph infection, she had bad reactions to the liquid nutrition they were pumping into her body and the food pump had to be turned off for several days. And she was getting weaker and thinner. Today makes 5 weeks that Rachel has been in the hospital. She will have many bad days, and then she will seem to rally for a few days, and then she will sink lower than ever before. On November 23, Rachel tested positive for COVID. Now we cannot be with her and help her. She is alone. She cannot stand without assistance, and when she does, she turns blue and purple from lack of oxygen and must lay down again. She is still not receiving all of the nutrition she needs and is still losing weight. Last week she was at 103 pounds and still dropping. We do not know what she weighs now, but she must be below 100 pounds now. And she still is in pain and her eyesight is being affected too. We need a miracle. Please pray for Rachel. Because we were taking care of Rachel in the hospital, we have contracted COVID as well and have been quarantining ourselves ever since we received the news about Rachel testing positive. We have been blessed by many neighbors bringing food and by many people offering help. We are blessed to have moderate symptoms. We are exhausted and it is a bit difficult to breathe but our oxygen levels are high. So, we are taking things at a slower pace and getting rest. Now, updates about the mission: Lansaka Church flooding We have a prayer request from Pastor Sirigorn (who planted the 41st Pioneer Pastor Church in May of this year in Southern Thailand). There is terrible prolonged flooding in Southern Thailand and it is causing suffering which is compounded by the financial devastation that COVID has caused, bringing to a halt the tourism which they depend upon to make a living. Below are some pictures from around Lansaka Church. One is a flooded intersection near the church and the other is a the restaurant/house of one of the new believers that attends the church.

Phase One of the Abundant Life Training Center Every Christmas, God’s people bless the mission with special offerings to help a specific need. We have had several people contact us to get an update on fundraising for Phase One of the Abundant Life Training Center. We still need $12,000 to reach our goal of $80,000. The land has already been purchased. Now we need the remaining funds to fill up the land by 6 feet of dirt to raise it above flood levels and to build a tall retainer wall around the perimeter. We pray that we receive all of the funds needed this Christmas so we can continue construction now that Dry Season is here. We save a lot of money if we fill the land with dirt now in dry season. Fill dirt is three times more expensive in rain season. So timing is essential. If the Lord leads you to give to this project, please be sure to designate your gift to the Building Fund. You can give online at https://thailandnow.org/donate/ Or send a check by mail to: Thailand NOW, P.O. Box 56, Mannsville, KY 42758

Update on Rachel and Good News from Thailand

It was 2 weeks ago that we had asked for prayer for our daughter Rachel, who went in for out-patient surgery to get feeding tubes in her stomach and colon, but things went wrong. Rachel was in acute unbearable pain, had internal bleeding, her body was rejecting the liquid food formula, and she was getting so weak she could not walk anymore because she has not had proper nutrition for over three months. We asked you to pray and if you had time to send prayers via email to give her hope. WOW!!! God's people are GOOD people. Thank you for being God's people! Within just two hours of sending that blog update, we received over 150 prayers. Sherri printed them all out, and it was 19 pages of prayer. Rachel was moved and received hope from those prayers and she will send a thank you note when she gets better and out of the hospital. But for now, we want to convey her gratitude for your compassion. After that first burst of prayer emails, we received another 200 prayers. All of these prayers are making a difference. Rachel has been in the hospital for 17 days now and things got worse before they started getting better. But now there is hope. The nutritionist found a liquid food formula that Rachel's body will receive and not reject. The anti-biotics are working and Rachel is no longer coughing up blood and the places where tubes are inserted into her body are still very tender, but at least it is healing. Rachel is receiving some nutrition now. She still cannot bear the pain of having the full amount of liquid food pumped into her body, but she is half way there. If she keeps going in the right direction, she may be able to go home in three or four days. So please keep the prayers flowing. The last few weeks have been busy in Thailand. School is on break for 4 weeks, and it is the time that many of the Thai churches schedule revivals and baptism services. Scores of pastors contacted us to see if we could make it back into Thailand to baptize new believers, and since we could not, they took pictures and videos. For the past three weeks we have received videos of baptisms and testimonies of new believers from churches throughout Thailand. We wanted to share one of them with you. We added captions so you can understand what this new believer named Lake is saying.

Finally, please pray for two of our team members, Teddy and May. They are our administrative assistants and we rely heavily upon them for the Abundant Life Savings Group Program. They are now packing up two households of furniture, equipment, and belongings to move half way across the nation to Buriram, where the new training center will be built. Because there is so much stuff to move, it will be done in stages over several months. They will be looking for places to rent for all of us and they must do this without our help. Now is the time because as soon as all of the funds are donated, we will begin Phase One of the Abundant Life Training Center. We have the land purchased already. Now we must fill the land with 6 feet of dirt and then build a tall sturdy retainer wall around the whole property.

We are $12,000 away from completing $80,000 needed for Phase One fundraising. Our request is for churches, Sunday School classes, UMW and UMM groups, and individuals to pray about taking up special offerings during this Christmas season for this project. If you send offerings for this project, please designate it for the "Building Fund". You can give by check or online. Mail checks payable to Thailand NOW to: Thailand NOW P.O. Box 56 Mannsville, KY 42758 OR give Online at https://thailandnow.org/donate/

Children's Camps, a HUGE Answer to Prayer, and an Update

Children's Bible Camps

The school year in Thailand goes according to a different calendar than in the States because it is based upon the agricultural cycles of growing rice. October is the equivalent of winter break for Thai children, and many of the Pioneer Pastor churches are reaching out to the families in their neighborhood through Vacation Bible School.  In Thailand, we don't call it VBS.  Instead we call it Children's Bible Camp.  

Many pastors have asked for prayer for their Children's Bible Camp.  They want to share the Good News of Jesus with the children and their families so that many will become disciples of Christ.  So we are sharing some pictures with you so you can pray for them.  Please pray that whole families will come to Christ and be transformed through the power of the Lord.  The Thai pastors will be thrilled to know you are surrounding them with prayer.

(From top to bottom: Children's Bible Camp at Lamae Church, Children's Bible Camp at Phato Church, Children's Bible Camp at Prasiri Bangkok Church)

Your Prayers made the difference for David and Allie Houle

David at Blessing Home TaPhraya

You have been lifting David and Allie Houle up to the Lord in prayer for several months now as they
sought to obtain a work permit and visas so they could remain in Thailand.  COVID has created many crisis, and the Houle's were in need of divine intervention because all of the normal avenues of obtaining the documents they needed were cut off.  

On Friday, October 2, we received word that Allie and David now have a work permit and visas.  Please continue to pray for them.  The visas are for one month only, and they need to go back to Immigration Police at the end of the month to receive another visa for the remaining 11 months.  This is typical, but still a bit unnerving, because the process is not over until it is over.  However, obtaining the work permit is HUGE and we believe the largest obstacles have been overcome.

Phase One of the Abundant Life Training Center UPDATE

We are getting closer each month to our goal of raising $80,000 for Phase One of the Abundant Life Training Center.  Praise God, we have now received a total of over $67,000!  We have already purchased the land, now we need the rest of the funds to raise the land about 6 feet so it is above flood level and to build a strong and tall retainer wall around the property.  If we had all of the funds, we would begin now since rain season is coming to an end and it will be dry season from November through April.  Buying fill dirt is much cheaper during the dry season, and our budget is built around being able to be as economical as possible.

Members of the Abundant Life Savings
Group at Lamae Church come up front
to make deposits to their
Family Emergency Funds.

This training center is a vital need for our mission.  We have many more churches requesting Abundant Life Financial training then what we have the capacity to fulfill because we do not have our own facilities.  Since the COVID crisis, many pastors and Christian leaders have seen the need for the Abundant Life Savings Group Program.  They have witnessed how members of these groups were financially prepared for this crisis, and they want to be trained in the same way.

It is not possible for our staff to travel long distances to every church that is requesting training.  We can only meet the need if we can have the leaders come to us and be trained in a location where we have lodging and seminar rooms.  

If you would like to donate to this project, please designate your gift to the BUILDING FUND.

You can donate in many ways:

1.  You can donate online at https://thailandnow.org/donate/

2.  You can donate by check and mail to: 

Thailand NOW

P.O. Box 56

Mannsville, KY 42758

3. You can donate stocks and bonds and other estate gifts by contacting our treasurer, Terri Gabehart at thailandmm@windstream.net